High Yielders from Personal Finance

, long a contributing editor to
Personal
Finance, has now taken the reins of
the publication, one of the most popular newsletters. We’re confident
that Neil and the rest of the editorial team will maintain the excellence of the
newsletter without missing a beat. In his first issue as editor, George offers
some favorite high-yielding opportunities.

"Below are a handful of our favorite
high-yielding stocks for the next few years. They all have one thing in common:
They’re justifying your investment by paying you back now with cash and into the
future with continually improved businesses. And you can’t beat getting paid
monthly. While the companies that do this might not be in exciting industries,
nothing is more impressive these days than regularly appearing checks.

"Leading the pack is one stock that we’ve followed for years,
even though Wall Street doesn’t even know its address–W.P. Carey (WPC NYSE). Its mission is pure and simple. It buys
business properties from big-time companies that need cash and turns around and
rents them back to those same companies as long-haul leases. It’s sort of a
pawnbroker for the Fortune 500 set. During tough times when the corporate world
needs cash, W.P. Carey buys properties at rock-bottom prices and locks in
triple-net lease payments for decades. When times get really good, it gets to
sell the properties at nice profits. The firm pays a fat, near-6% dividend and
the stock is up 32% alone. What’s more, it still trades at nice discounts to the
book values of its peers. Bottom line: It’s a solid value that will keep paying
you and give you some goods to grow. Buy up to 35.

"Another company
that’s been overlooked by Wall Street while it keeps paying and growing is
Thornburg Mortgage (TMA NYSE). Like Carey, Thornburg keeps it simple and
stays with what it knows. It’s a mortgage lender that primarily holds adjustable
rate mortgages (ARMs) of higher credit scoring customers. This means that unlike
troubled behemoths Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have bigger default and
interest rate risks, Thornburg keeps humming along with one of the most stable
and secure portfolios in the banking business. It’s not a huge firm but it’s
growing nicely, generating five-year annual average returns of over 23% while
paying a healthy near-10% yield. Buy Thornburg Mortgage up to 30 when the
broad market is rallying, or when Fannie/Freddie make headlines with more bad
news.

"And it’s not just what you build on land but also what’s
underneath land that has value. Pumping gas and oil are still some of the best
ways to make money in good times and bad. We’ve found a company that asked a
simple question and built a business to take advantage of the answer. The
question: Why take all the risks of drilling or exploring when you can just pump
and collect cash year in and year out instead? This is why during the past five
years companies like ExxonMobil have lost 5% on average while a company like
Enerplus Resources (ERF NYSE) has generated a positive 43% gain year after
year. Nevertheless, Wall Street thumbs its nose at this Canadian natural
resources company and you won’t hear anything about it from analysts. Buy
Enerplus up to 27 and enjoy its 13.8% dividend yield for many years to
come."